Elite Runner Ryan Hall Is Buff Now.
You Should Be Too.
Dr. Mark T. Rathjen PT, DPT, CSCS
Dr. Claire R. Lakatos-Rathjen PT, DPT, SCS CSCS
C.O.R.E. Physical Therapy and Sports Performance, PC
Ryan Hall After/Before
In light of a recent Blog post, Martin Fritz-Huber tells the story of elite level distance runner Ryan Hall who has held the American record for half and full marathon times. We wanted to share our thoughts and review his Blog post. The link to the original article is http://www.outsideonline.com/2087751/yes-professional-runners-are-weak. It is well worth your time.
It is important to know, we are NOT picking on runners. In fact, the PRINCIPLE of the article pertains to many powerlifters, bodybuilders, cyclists, swimmers, dancers, etc.
There are many aspects of full spectrum fitness: Strength, speed, agility, reaction time, balance, flexibility, and cardiovascular capacity (Low/High Intensity). Many athletes do not perform any cross training, which leads to an imbalance in strength, flexibility and a higher rate of injuries. In fact, according to some recent studies, running has a higher injury rate than powerlifting, bodybuilding and Cross-fit.
Quotes from the article are in bold and Italics…
Ryan writes “I’ve been small and weak my entire life—just, like, totally underdeveloped,” “I’ve always wondered what it would feel like to be big and strong.”
“To be an elite marathoner with a body that’s light and lean: while you’re running, you feel amazing. You’re fluid and economical, floating along without having to carry a lot of muscle mass,” says Hall. “But the rest of the day, to be honest, is not a lot of fun. My energy was super low [throughout most of my career]. I took naps every day and felt pretty much useless when I wasn’t running.”
Hall told me that even during his best years as a competitive athlete, he was “healthy” only in a narrowly defined way. As he put it, he was good at one thing: running. Everything else was rather laborious. Hall said he could be stirring pots of chili while making dinner and feel soreness in his shoulder the next day.
These quotes tell a very compelling story. Ryan was a very high level elite athlete, but only in ONE aspect of fitness/health. In fact, in other areas of fitness and health, he was likely unhealthy. Ryan lacked the balance of a full spectrum of health from the extreme life as an ELITE athlete. Elite level athletes can be unhealthy in many ways.
The vast majority of athletes in the country are in fact recreational, and do not make a living at running or their particular sport. As a result, this much larger population of individuals needs to strive for better balance if their goal is overall health.
“But also, how healthy is the offensive lineman playing professional football, where it’s just size for the sake of size? That could certainly be considered ‘unhealthy’.”
With this we agree whole heartedly and it proves performance at the extremes of your sport CAN (but not definitely) be unhealthy.
“The highest levels of performance come at the expense of health. In fact, I would say that the two are mutually exclusive,” says Mark Twight, former elite-level alpinist, competitive amateur cyclist, and professional trainer.
Performance and health are mutually exclusive? Yes we completely agree!
“In a recent phone conversation, I asked Hall whether he felt healthier these days than he did during his competitive years. He said that he did and that the difference was like night and day.”
This is really the point our us reviewing this Blog Post. To feel your best, and be healthy in all areas of health and wellness, you will benefit with cross-training to create a balance athletically.
“While he believes that his current fitness routine, which places greater emphasis on weightlifting and includes easy running for balance, is the way to go for an “everyday” athlete just looking to feel good, Hall doesn’t regret the time he spent on the razor’s edge of elite distance running.” “If I had to go back, I’d do it all over again—I would still have become a runner.”
In summary, Ryan Hall felt unhealthy to varying degrees during his career. He was truly an ELITE level runner, but only focusing on one aspect of fitness limited his overall level of health. He does not have regrets however, but offers an engaging discussion for the rest of us. Training as a professional athlete is much more EXTREME training a lifestyle than 99.9% can even imagine.
KEY POINTS
- Do NOT train like a professional athlete, unless you ARE a professional athlete.
- If you are only training ONE aspect of health, you are likely unbalanced and perhaps not “healthy” or as healthy as you could be.
- Strive to create a BALANCE in your life by stretching/mobility training at least 3x per week.
- Everyone should perform resistance training at least 2x per week.
- For cardio addicts, add one speed work or track day with HIT sprinting routines. For weight-lifting addicts, add 2-3 days of cardio/Interval training.
Cross training allows athletes to…
1. Increase training time/intensity.
2. Lower injury rates, less overuse injuries.
3. Healthier lifestyle/mental and physical balance.
4. Longer longevity in the given sport.
5. For most, an improved performance in their given sport.
6. More energy and better carry-over to daily life tasks.
7. Improved Motivation and Variety
For related topics, please click the following link for addition information on supplements for runners! https://hvmn.com/blog/running/supplements-for-runners-from-training-to-recovery